What do you do with a big hand preflop when you have a big stack, like K-K? And how does everyone else react? At the World Series of Poker, here is one such hand.

BLINDS 40,000/80,000

A has As-10c moves all-in (Pot 1.296m)
B has K-K reraises to 5m (Pot 6.296m)

B has two options here. He can just call and then wait for someone to move all-in after him, but that would make him do some thinking. Could it be A-A? Or Q-Q? If it was Q-Q there is a slight chance he might fold K-K, and regret it. But a big reraise can drive Q-Q or lower out, like what happened to another player:

C has Jd-Jc

(C’s comments on B’s hand were: “Why did you make it so much? … You like your hand that much?”) If C calls, it’s for all of his chips. C may think that B has A-K, but there are two all-ins in front of him, and one of them might be A-X (and with A-X he is still not safe) or a pair, but a suspiciously heavy raise to about 60 times the big blind is almost always a signal for A-A or K-K. So C could wait for a better opportunity than now.

C folds (Pot 2.39m)

C’s fold was brilliant, after the reraise, but it will still be brillinat even if B did not reraise. B might bet again on the Flop and C may not continue and just let go of the chips.

B’s reraise will work if he has A-A or K-K, but I doubt it if he will do the same with A-K or Q-Q, but it may have the same effect of making C fold. As for A, let us wish for his good health. B won the hand later.

So now you know! If you are not already a member of NoPayPOKER join today. You can learn to play poker online free on the blog and then put your learning into practice with no money risk whatsoever on the NoPayPOKER free poker site

OK, it’s time for some serous free poker learning! This is not a beginner article but if you are new read anyway, it will get your mind working in the background.

On a poker table, to reconstruct a hand is to determine the motives of the other players for their actions, based on the cards that fell, your betting patterns, their player types, their chip stacks, the pot size, and many other factors, so you can put them on a hand.

With poker shows now showing the hole cards, the player actions, the pot, and other statistics, a third-person analyst not participating can now reconstruct hands from his or own point of view, based on the other factors mentioned above.

So, for our first reconstruction, we shall discuss a big hand.

BLINDS 1,000/2,000
(Pot 5,400)

PREFLOP:

• A has Js-9s, calls 2,000
• B has Ks-Kc, raises to 14,000
• A calls 12,000 (Pot 33,400)

A just initially calls, hoping that there will also be many callers because he has suited connectors and wants to get sufficient pot odds.

B, meanwhile, may interpret the call from early position as A-A or Q-Q, and because he has a big stack (the two are the biggest stacks in the table) he can afford to raise a little bit, because if the other player reraises and he thinks the other one has A-A, he can fold.

Also, K-K is a little bit unsafe if an Ace falls on the flop, so this may serve as a tester raise. A calls, because he has a big stack and can afford it.

FLOP: Kh-9d-Kd

• A checks
• B checks (Pot 33,400)

Suddenly B has Quad Kings! A checks, because he has only a Nine, and can proceed carefully if B bets. B, hoping to conceal his unbeatable hand, checks too.

Paired boards are usually good bluffing situations.

For example, a 8-8-3 board is good for bluffing because on a, say, J-7-3 board, there are three cards which can pair one of them, and a bluff will be less effective.

But on the 8-8-3 board, bluffing has big benefits because there are only two cards which can conceivably help anyone, and also anyone there with a Three will be less likely to call. (Only an Eight will do.)

But with a board with bigger cards like our Flop, B could have bet, but after that, A will be less likely to put him on a bluff (and more likely on a made hand) because he may have, say, K-10, and we play big cards more than small ones.

B doesn’t want A to back out of the pot. So B just checks.

Also, with two Diamonds B will want to check on the hope that A will put him on a flush draw so that if the flush doesn’t come, A will bet or raise to push B away, and B can gain extra chips.

TURN: Kh-9d-Kd-5h

• A checks
• B bets 20,000
• A raises to 70,000
• B calls 50,000 (Pot 173,400)

B still has invincible Quads, A still has Two-Pair. B could have now put A on the Nine or a draw, so B bets 20,000 so that A will call.

But since during the flop B may have represented a Diamond flush draw in A’s perspective, A raised to 70,000 so that B will move away.

B just calls, because there are two draws already, and B might want to represent one of them again so that A will try another bluff on the river.

RIVER: Kh-9d-Kd-5h-9h

• A checks
• B moves all-in 106,000 (Pot 279,300)
• A folds

B still has Quads, but A is now in trouble because he has a bottom Full House. A King can kill him.

What A is hoping, though, is that B backdoored a Heart Flush and just check it along with him.

But B moves all-in. This is a very intriguing move by B. A strong player would value-bet this (sat, 40,000 on a pot of 173,400) and A can just call it.

It is OK to represent a Flush here, because the board is double-paired, which can destroy Flushes because the board is just one card off a Full House.

So what I am thinking is: B moved all-in because (1) he wanted A to think that they have the same hand or that his hand is weaker, like a Flush. B’s play on the Flop and the Turn was weak, so A might not have put B on a King but likely on the Flush draw we are talking about.

B wants a call. B now hopes that A backdoored a Flush too and also that he thinks his all-in is just a bluff, but A is in trouble because of the sudden strong play.

It was psychologically jarring.

Did B hide that King or not? A might think that better hands could come later, so he folds.

Also (2) B may not want a showdown; he did not want to show the two Kings; he wanted to trouble the minds of A and other opponents.

If they saw how he played K-K it will be added information. He wants to keep them guessing.

It is important to play more unpredictably so you can gain chips later than to gain chips now, but be unable to get some later. I believe this is a brilliant reason.

So now you know! If you are not already a member of NoPayPOKER join today. You can learn to play poker online free on the blog and then put your learning into practice with no money risk (zero, nada)  whatsoever on the NoPayPOKER.com free online poker site.

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Learn how to play poker in our Learn to Play Poker Online series of free poker articles from NoPayPOKER members, Pro players and the legendary D Michael Vadnais

NoPayPOKER.com is the world’s only FREE Texas Holdem poker site where you win real cash on every game with utterly no danger of losing any of your own money.

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1) If you are not already a member of NoPayPOKER join here and learn to play poker free online today! You’ll get $20 FreeD as an instant bankroll so you can begin.

2) But hold on…if you a beginner, first read through the D M Vadnais series An Introduction To The Game – Poker 101.

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• Time spent in recon is never wasted as long as you don’t get stuck there.
• Don’t obsess over this, just get a feel for the territory and the “enemy”

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• Try some of the freerolls.
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6) Keep playing and practising, to learn how to play poker is a lifelong trip that should never end, when you stop learning you’ll get stuck in a rut so keep playing and looking to learn.

Here are the current Learn to Play Poker Online resources on NoPayPOKER:

An Introduction To The Game – Poker 101
For poker beginners. If you don’t know your calls from your folds start here.

Building a Bankroll
Essential reading if you have any ambition at all to win money at poker. D M Vadnais takes you through the fundamental steps you must go through if you are to succeed. Read it!

World Of Brick and Mortar

• OK you’re doing great on NoPay.
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Starts June 2010: Expanding Your Bankroll
Masterclass time. D M Vadnais takes you through what you need to do to fine tune your game to perfection and make some serious money playing poker.

Poker Hands Analysed and Reconstructed.
Just started. Many articles on the way over the next 2 months. A brilliant series of articles from a NoPayPOKER member that looks in detail at the various hands work. How they work and what to do if you find yourself in such a situation. Advanced pro quality stuff.

User Articles – Best of the Rest

• Send us a poker article you’ve written yourself (don’t copy we spot copies easily)
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Poker pro rocket scientist now you got it

This article about poker and luck was a runner up in the Febuary 2010 NoPayPOKER Free Poker Article contest. Member WRIG88 got $100 FreeD. See the poker article writing details page. All accepted articles get $50 FreeD plus bonus chips and the best may win $1000 FreeD or get a runner up prize of $100 FreeD.

In this article, I would like to try and give some insight into the age old battle of is poker a game of skill or luck. I have personally been a money and free online poker player for some 7 years. I have made some nice cash at times but I have also busted several bankrolls.

In my opinion a skilled player is one who can recognize betting patterns, understand flop odds, and percentages, and have a solid concept of strategy and theory. I have noticed however, not matter how well skilled one may be, you must account for variance, and sometimes aggressive, even poor play from others.

I believe in conclusion it is best to assume that poker is a combination of both skill and luck where the skill level of the player involved has a definite effect on the “luck” component of the equation in the medium and long term.

The assumption would be based on this conclusion that you have to be both pre flop aggressive, as well as post flop smart. Many times a player might find themselves in a position where they made the proper call, yet they find themselves behind due in part to an opponents luck hitting a one or two outer.

It is very difficult to try and overcome such a situation. This also can be attributed more toward online poker vs. traditional brick and mortar casinos because of the amount of hands dealt online. The action of online poker is much faster, and decisions must come much quicker.

Many individuals feel that they take more bad beats online as opposed to live play. This mathematically can be attributed to the number of hands both seen, and played. As well, there is a tile factor involved when one feels that they are being pushed too hard, or perhaps have suffered a bad beat.

The decision making can become irrational, and typical hands that would be thrown away are now played, or even pushed pre flop out of anger in trying to win back lost funds.

Others, who are skilled can pick up on such trends and play them to their advantage, which in turn leads to an even more increased loss, and in the eyes of the losing player, more bad beats which he feels was based on luck.

The successful poker player knows how to manage both aspects of the game. In effect you become able to manage probability (luck) by application of skill and so apply the old phrase beloved of annoying sales managers/gurus everywhere, “make your own luck”. Basically meaning that your skill flattens out the “bad luck” to the extent that you are up consistently in the medium and longer term.

And how to do this? Learn your skill on free poker sites before moving into micro and low stakes money games and beyond.

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This article about how to win Freerolls was a runner up in the January 2010 NoPayPOKER Free Poker Article contest. Member luigi1987 got $100 FreeD. See the poker article writing details page. All accepted articles get $50 FreeD plus bonus chips and the best may win $1000 FreeD or get a runner up prize of $100 FreeD.

To consistently win or place well in Freeroll poker tournaments you need to take a certain approach and follow some key rules in order to maximise your probabilities.

Here are 12 tips to help you succeed in free poker tournaments. Practice them at NoPayPOKER today. See the Poker Tournament schedule for your next game.

1. Be Patient
This rule is first because we believe that patience is the most important qualities to have in order to play well in the free Texas hold em poker tournaments. One very important thing to keep in mind is that big online freerolls may have hundreds or even thousands of participants so they generally take several hours to finish. If you want to be at the final table to win have to be very patient.

2. Be Aggressive with good hands
Freerolls are multi-table tournaments where you’ll almost always be seated at a table of ten. This is good in the sense that you do not have to adapt your game to take account of fewer players, but also means that when you have a good hand it is best to play it aggressively. Whenever you have a good hand like AA, KK, AKs or AQs, you must be aggressive.

3. Play fewer hands
Control the aggression and play fewer hands. Do not play hunches, play tight and wait until you get good hands, then play them aggressively. A general rule is to fold without a letter or containing less than eight.

4. Take advantage of your position at the table
If you’re first or second bet K10 is not a good hand. There are nine players after you and if any of them has AA, KK or KQ can see you in serious trouble. However if you’re last to bet and you just have to see the blind or pass your K10 may be a good move. Nobody has raised the ante before so your King can be quite valuable and therefore worth seeing the flop.

5. Change Game
Although you need to be patient and wait for good hands, you do not you become too predictable. If you play only good hands and always go up then your opponents will be thrown back and just let you win the blinds. The problem is that with the blinds do not earn enough to keep his head above water because you’re playing a few hands. You will have to be changing the way you play to be more difficult to predict.

6. Avoid bluffing
You must avoid the bluff except in very few and rare occasions. Since there are always ten people at the table you have a great probability that one has a good hand and wants to go against you, even if you’ve done all-in. Make an all-in in a bluff is like a suicide in the freerolls almost always there is someone willing to see your bet and you have little chance of survive.

7. Look at your opponents and their style of play
You can collect a lot of collect valuable information simply by observing the behavior of your opponents at the table. Want to bet on almost every hand?, Is sitting around waiting for them between a good hand? (Like you!), They withdraw when he ups the ante? Only go when they have “free card”?, Is a maniac who goes on every hand?.

8. Concentrate on the game
If you want to know how to play your opponents need to focus on what they do. Do not get to write emails or surf on Internet while playing, and of course turn off the TV!.

9. Without doubts
If doubts before making a move can be interpreted by your opponents as a sign of weakness. In online poker tournaments you can not see the reaction of your opponent and see if you’re nervous so one of the few tracks you have is the speed at which your opponent makes his moves. The worst sin you can commit is hesitating for a while and then go with that you told the table that you have no free play but you want to see the next card. More likely is that someone makes a bet to get you out of hand.

10. Do not pursue projects
It can be tempting when you see that you have a straight (for example if you have a 6 and 7 and rolls 5 and 8 on the flop) but the reality is rarely that hand is a winner. If you can see the turn and river for free or for a few chips then you might be interested if you pursue it but remember that at this point you have nothing and your opponents have at least a couple.

11. Remember that your opponents are playing different cards
Whether you’re doing the right thing does not mean that others are doing well. People play all kinds of hands, especially in online poker freerolls, so you can expect all sorts of bad beats. Give special attention to the possibility of stairs, if for example 5-6-8 on the table there is a strong possibility that someone has a 7 to 4.

12. Take freerolls seriously
Although you are not spending money to participate in free online poker freerolls them, you’re dedicating the tournament much of your time so take them seriously. At NoPayPOKER they are a good way to practice and learn how to play poker and win one is a great achievement that raises the moral enough, except that you will earn some money!.

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